Will Patriots Go With Jarrett Stidham Or Brian Hoyer At Quarterback In 2020?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The post-Tom Brady era has finally arrived in New England. The end that some expected to come five or more years ago finally came for the greatest quarterback of all time. Now it's time to move on.
While that change is now known, it's not yet known exactly which quarterback the Patriots will be turning to in 2020. Second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham and veteran backup Brian Hoyer are the only two quarterbacks on the roster. The team could also draft a quarterback this week, or sign another free agent.
If the Patriots do stick with what they have, will it be with the inexperienced Stidham?
"I believe that they would love for Jarrett Stidham to be that player, but what they don't want to do is put more pressure on him than already needs to be there," ESPN's Mike Reiss said on Sports Final. "This is a huge situation to step in as Tom Brady's replacement, so the idea that they're not going to name him the starter doesn't surprise me. But I would say that if they had their plan go the way they hope it goes, he would be the guy."
Former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria doesn't quite see it the same way.
"Yeah, I don't know. I'm not buying that," Fauria said. "Stidham's not going to be your quarterback. I think best-case scenario is that -- I mean, the only case scenario right now is that Hoyer is your starter. I don't believe that Stidham has earned anything. Like, nothing whatsoever. And if you just track him from Baylor to Auburn, the guy's so green. And he needs a little bit more than just one year of running scout team and having one action in a game where he threw a pick-six. I just can't imagine them going into a season like that."
Reiss pushed back against the suggestion that Stidham has not earned anything.
"Last preseason, he really earned the No. 2 job over Brian Hoyer. Didn't he? So that's what I'm having trouble reconciling," Reiss said. "If he's good enough to be the No. 2 last year -- meaning that if Tom Brady at age 42 gets hurt, you're willing to turn your team over to Jarrett Stidham last year as sort of the vice president to the president -- what's different this year with one more year in the system? Why you'd pick Hoyer over him, I don't quite understand that."
It's certainly a worthwhile argument. And if there's anything certain at this point in time, it's that no matter which way Bill Belichick might be leaning right now, we won't be learning his answer for quite some time.
